Phil Collins

No Jacket Required

Solid Pop Music from the 80s

Review Score:

(8/10)
While pop is often reviled by those of us that prefer cutting edge or more artistic music, occasionally there is a pop album that comes along that is so good that you finding yourself liking it in spite of its stated genre. "No Jacket Required" is exactly that kind of album.

You can readily list the pop songs that swamped the airwaves for much of 1985 and 1986 (and probably 1987 - and now a fixture on 80s focused stations): "Sussudio", "One More Night", "Take Me Home", and "Don't Lose My Number". For a time it was difficult to listen to a radio station for more than an hour without hearing one of these songs. To an extent these songs are a product of their time with lots of keyboards. However, some of these songs are now timeless, and are already classics of their time.

"One More Night" is a beautiful ballad, easily one of Phil Collin's best songs ever. The beauty of this ballad is that it would have been great in the hands of any good ballad singer, such as Madonna or Celine Dion.

"Take Me Home" has relatively simple lyrics. However, it's not the lyrics that make this song, it's the well-orchestrated music and the reverberation on the vocals used to enhance the soaring feeling of the song. This song is a play it loudly mellow song that will forever be on the best of 80s lists.

While these last two songs are the highlights of this album, the quality extends to most of the other songs on the CD. "We Said Hello Goodbye" has a neo-classical beginning that lead into a vocal performance that will recall some of John Lennon or Elton John's songs. "Only You Know and I Know" is a pop rocker suitable for dancing. "Long Long Way to Go" is another ballad, a very consistent tune that could work as a slow dance. Another song that I think would have been a great single is "Inside Out".

Most of my CD selections from the 80s tend to be limited to progressive rock or music that I thought was off-center. However, this particular CD caught my attention with the number of singles released from it. Not every song on this CD is a gem, but there are enough on here to make this a CD worth buying if you like good solid pop music, Phil Collins' music (of which this CD may be his best), or 80s music in general.

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